IPL 2020: CSK vs KKR, Match 49, 1st innings: Blistering knock from Nitish Rana sees Kolkata Knight Riders post 172/5

Bengaluru, Oct. 29: Nitish Rana put up a stellar show with the willow as Kolkata Knight Riders put up a modest 172/5 in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against the Chennai Super Kings at the Dubai International Stadium.

After being put into bat, KKR openers Shubman Gill and Rana handed the Knights a strong start in their all-important game against Chennai. The duo put up 48 runs in the powerplay, the best powerplay score for the Knight Riders this season.

The duo stitched together an opening stand of 53 off 44 to help the Knights get off to a strong start. But Karn Sharma struck on the very second ball of his over as he removed the leg stumps to break the opening stand and hand Chennai the breakthrough.

Mitchell Santner removed Sunil Narine in the very next over to halt the Knights’ charge. Though regular wickets fell at the other end, Rana kept the scoreboard ticking.

The last five overs saw the Knights pile on the runs as they reached a modest 172. The last five overs yielded 66 runs. While Rana was the architect of the KKR innings, former skipper Dinesh Karthik played a quickfire innings at the end to help KKR reach a defendable total.

Rana put up a blistering 87 off 61, which included ten boundaries and four maximums. Three of these came off Sharma’s over. In the 16th over, the KKR opener hammered Karn Sharma for three huge maximums to add the important runs.

While captain Eoin Morgan failed to put up a solid score on the board, former captain Karthik scored a quickfire 21 off 10.

Despite the regular wickets, the Knight Riders managed to put up a strong total at the Dubai Stadium. The bowlers will have to put up a good show to notch up an important win for Kolkata.